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Have You Heard From Jennifer?

I’ve gotten several emails a day for the past few days from Jennifer. Like is she my new best friend or something?

It looks like she wants to be!

She wants to send me referrals. She wants to make me the Numero Uno agent in Columbia Heights County in the District of Columbia.

She wants to help me to climb that ladder of success!

But wait! DC has no counties! And there is no Columbia Heights County in Maryland or Virginia either!

But if I do not act PRONTO, I will lose out to one of a bunch of other agents – they actually listed names and I’ve never heard of any of these folks. Of course, I’ve never heard of Columbia Heights County either.

So, Jen! I have no idea what your deal is. What do you charge for the leads? How does it work? And you know what, even if I did have to buy leads, and I don’t, why would I respond to someone who knows so little about my market that they actually think there are counties in our nation’s Capitol!

And are the buyers and sellers who sign up for your services, all allegedly pre-qualified, dumb enough to not pick up on these silly little details?

Get you act together, girl!

Posted by Patricia Kennedy on 12/29/2007 10:57 AM

Comments (14)

lead generating services

14 Comments on Have You Heard From Jennifer?

If I know Jennifer, she's now going to list you as one of the other agents who missed out. That is *so* like her.

12/29/2007 11:04 AM

by Chuck Willman, Arizona East Valley Realtor® (Gentry Realty)

Patricia... Junk Mail.... forward some of the spam that you get to her! haha

12/29/2007 11:27 AM

by Roswell Georgia Real Estate Agent - Nancy Rivera (RE/MAX Leading Edge in Roswell Ga)

Patricia,

Sounds like Schemo Schemera!!! Thanks, Fran

12/29/2007 11:37 AM

by Fran 'The Title Man' Gaspari Title Insurance-PA & NJ (Patriot Land Transfer, Inc.)

Thanks for the giggle. I've become pretty adept at avoiding some of the lead generation company calls I receive. Yesterday, while I was diligently trying to do my work, I got a pop-up on my screen from my Meebo window on my website. It said "Mr. Maley, I've been trying to reach you since early November." I thought, I don't see how that can be, I return calls promptly. "This is 'Maria' with 'TakeYourMoney.com' and I've got leads for you." I guess their business must be drying up too! Or maybe agents are getting desperate enough to fall for it.

12/29/2007 11:41 AM

by Gregory D. Maley - Metropolitan Washington, DC REALTOR (Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage - Chevy Chase)

I had one guy call me a couple of weeks ago while he was ordering coffee and didn't realize I had answered the phone. What a dolt! Needless to say I did harass him about his telephone skills. I'll let Jennifer know you are looking forward to working with her :-)

12/29/2007 01:10 PM

by Cindy Jones-Northern Virginia Real Estate & Military Relocation Services (RE/MAX Allegiance #1 RE/MAX Company in the World)

Columbia Heights County - maybe that is one of the new "fare zones" for the cabs?

12/29/2007 03:46 PM

by Kevin McGrath - Fredericksburg VA Real Estate (Coldwell Banker Elite - Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania)

Recently my son, Rob, answered our phone to one of the search positioning salespeople. Rob told him that we don't pay for positioning, and besides, we're quite happy with our positioning. The pushy salesman replied, "You all say that." Instead of hanging up on him, which I might have, Rob suggested he look up a search term, I don't recall what it was, and when the salesperson did, he found that we were #1, #2 and #3 - without paying anyone. I hope he won't call back.

12/29/2007 06:26 PM

by Sharon Simms St Pete Florida CRS CIPS CLHMS (RE/MAX Metro)

Chuck, so she's not even that nice!

Nancy, I'm going to start a list where I'll send these people all of the chain letters I get! That way, I will have continued good luck and will not have to consider using her referral system.

Fran, yes, it probably is! Never figured out how they could get people sucked into these things.

Gregory, you are very funny! My all time favorite is www.hungryagents.com! I write about them in my book.

Cindy, yeah, sure I'll be working with Jen as soon as I find Columbia Heights County!

Kevin, I don't think even the cabbies have this one yet!

And Sharon, are these guys covered by the Do Not Call rules? It seem like they should be.

12/29/2007 08:53 PM

by Patricia Kennedy (Evers & Company)

Well, dang I guess Jennifer doesn't think I'm important enough to call :) And here I am licensed in Columbia Heights County and all where many buyers are searching for property...

12/29/2007 09:48 PM

by Bethesda Real Estate Sales ~ Josette Skilling (Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc.)

Patricia, fortunately I have not heard from Jennifer, but I do hear from others like Jennifer all the time and have learned to very quickly hang up the phone after saying "No No No... I'm not interested." I try to stop them quickly before they go on their long spiel. I feel bad and want to save them their time and breath.

12/30/2007 06:20 AM

by Brian Block -- Northern Virginia & D.C. Real Estate (RE/MAX Allegiance)

Sounds like they're fishing for Realtors the same way they're fishing to leads. I wonder how many people who scope out Zillow or similar sites start getting e-mail such as "Let us find you a free Realtor for Columbia Heights County,DC" Pretty sad stuff but all too common.

12/31/2007 10:44 AM

by Ken Montville -- the MD Suburbs of DC (RE/MAX Advantage Realty)

Patricia- I had one guy call me selling the leads in zip codes and they chose ME! WOW! And how did they know who I was? When I told him NO THANKS! OOOOH he even got mad at me on the phone. I suggested I could coach him in sales skills! He said that their product was so great, I said, wow, it if it that great you would not be calling me, as hungry as the agents in our state are they would be knocking down your door for those leads! Well, he had nothing to say to that one! Katerina

12/31/2007 06:47 PM

by Nestor & Katerina Gasset Realtors® Wellington Florida Luxury Homes (International Properties and Investments, Inc.)

Patricia - scams, scams, it is amazing the number of scams that bombard us daily!!!

01/03/2008 08:46 AM

by Barbara-Jo & Bill - - Florida Realty Professional - AHWD (Charles Rutenberg Realty)

Dear Patricia,

This is Jennifer from Real Estate Client Referrals. I am so sorry to have bothered you. I work really hard at my job and I know that our system isn't 100% perfect sometimes. I know there are no counties in DC. Columbia Heights is actually a neighborhood area there. Real Estate agents are actually the ones who suggest these places, so since you work in DC I'm sure you have probably heard of it.

I really do want to help other agents. Our company is the farthest thing from being a scam. In fact, Amanda King, the Century 21 International Realtor of the Year, has made over $5 million dollars in sales thanks to the referrals we've given her.

I'd be happy to tell you more about how our program works if you're interested. You can just call 1-800-977-7058 and ask us any questions you may have.

Again, I'm sorry to have bothered you and so sorry for the mistake. I will let my manager know about it right away.

Best to you,

Jennifer,
Real Estate Client Referrals

01/03/2008 10:42 AM

by Clint Miller - www.recr.com (Real Estate Client Referrals LLC)

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